The following asanas will help to develop mobility and strength in the shoulders and upper back to minimize nerve compression and stress on the smaller joints. Regular practice of these poses progressively prepares the upper body for asanas that are more challenging to shoulders, elbows, and wrists, such as chaturanga dandasana (four-limbed staff pose), or adho mukha vrikshasana (handstand). Be sure to slide your shoulder blades down your back as you enjoy the opening across the front of your body. Keep your arms firm and straight, and as you reach them toward the ceiling, release your shoulders and shoulder blades down the wall. Release the tops of the trapezius muscles down your back, away from your neck, as you begin to straighten your arms toward the ceiling. Lift the sides of your chest, rotate your upper arms out from the shoulders, and turn the palms to face the ceiling. Reach the elbow back and turn the head to the right slightly to look up toward the ceiling. Keep the right side of your head relaxing on the ground. Stand in tadasana, one arm’s distance away from a wall, with your left side parallel to the wall. The moment you find that the top trapezius muscles tighten (even if only on one side), pause and allow them to soften before proceeding further.
Repeat on the other side. Repeat the pose, this time bringing the arms up from the sides, Yoga Stretch for Opening Shoulders and Upper Back focusing your attention on the rotation of the upper arms and shoulders. Your arms should stay pretty straight the whole time. Editor’s Note: Think you don’t have time for a workout? Now you have stretched your back fully in both directions, and loosened your shoulders. Now swap sides and do the other arm. Now repeat the pose, focusing on opening the sides of the chest and stretching the fingers and wrists. Hold the pose for about two minutes, and repeat on the other side. Lie on your right side with your legs bent comfortably, your spine neutral, and your right arm straight and perpendicular to your body. Push your hands into the wall while pushing your shoulders back and extending your spine. As you bring the arms further back, move your shoulder blades and upper back forward toward your chest without pushing your bottom ribs and lower back forward. Pull your shoulders back into the wall to bring the shoulder blades down the back. This rotation should feel like it is originating from your shoulder blades moving down, in, and forward toward your chest.
It should feel as if you are attempting to push the wall away from the center of your chest. Extend the inner edges of the arms from the center of your chest until you feel the biceps lengthening toward your wrists. Raise the arms overhead as you roll the triceps forward away from the wall and the biceps back toward the wall. As you lift the wrists higher toward the ceiling, raise the sides of your rib cage and open the armpits, spreading and lifting them toward the hands. Open the palms of the hands wide and try taking your hands further back, so that the arms come beside or even behind your ears. Place the palm of your left hand on the wall in line with your shoulder, and turn the hand out so that the middle finger is pointing behind you. Bring the backs of your clasped hands to your chest, and slowly stretch your arms straight out in front of you, parallel to the floor. Feel a stretch through your abdomen. It may also feel nice to look from side to side when your head is raised.
4. Turn your left forearm in front of your right forearm and point your left fingers towards the right side of your mat. Extend the side ribs up toward the hands without moving your lower back, thighs, and waist away from the wall. Exhale and lower your arms down by your sides into tadasana. Lift your lower abdomen toward the top of your sternum and isometrically drag your fingers toward the floor, as if you’re trying to pull the wall down with your fingertips. The more you expand your sternum and release your upper body, the more blood, and oxygen can circulate leaving you feeling mentally and physically invigorated. Lift the outer edges of your armpits toward your fingers, and, without dropping the arms, release the trapezius muscles away from your ears. In all of these poses, the upper trapezius muscles (which attach at the base of the skull and run down the neck to attach at the clavicles) should feel like they are releasing down the back, so that there is no congestion near the base of the neck, and the sides of the neck are free to lengthen.
